


The Motel Scene (Fixed It!)

by smilingoceanlover



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-08
Updated: 2019-04-08
Packaged: 2020-01-06 23:07:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18398213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smilingoceanlover/pseuds/smilingoceanlover
Summary: The motel scene from Plus One -- but having some semblance of sense.





	The Motel Scene (Fixed It!)

In his sleep, he feels her there.  He rolls over and sees her.  Her expression almost childlike as she stands at his bedside, in her pajamas.  “Speak of the devil.”

 

“I can’t sleep, Mulder.”

 

“What’s the problem?”

 

“Something about this case is getting under my skin,” she almost sighs, owning her weakness.

 

“We’ve had stranger cases, Scully.”

 

She’s rehearsed it to herself a few dozen times. “Can you hold me?”

 

“Yeah," he is surprised, wondering.  "I can do that.”

 

He pulls back the sheets.  Her body slides into place as he anchors her against his chest in one fluid motion, the one perfected over so many years.

 

“What’s gonna happen,” she asks.  But it is not really a question.

 

“What’s gonna happen when?”

 

“When we’re old.”

 

His shoulder aches.  “What do you mean, ‘When’?”

 

“I mean, sooner or later we’re gonna retire.”  She adds almost wistfully, “And… are we gonna spend time together?”

 

“I’ll come push your wheelchair.  With my wheelchair.”  He pulls her still tighter.

 

“That’s not what I mean.”

 

“Oh, I’ll always be around, Scully.  Offering bullet proof theories of genius that you fail to assail with your inadequate rationality."

 

In his arms, she unwinds.  As it has always been.  “And I’ll always be around to prove you wrong.  Promise.  But that’s not what I mean.”

 

“Then what do you mean?”  He waits for her.  As it has always been.

 

She hesitates.  “What if you meet someone?”

 

“That’s what you mean."  It takes him less than a second to weigh the import of the many answers he could give, feeling each one break his heart.  "You could do the same.  You could meet someone.  I can’t believe you haven’t met someone already.“

 

“Mulder, that’s not gonna happen,” his frankness somehow startles her.

 

“That’s nonsense, Scully.”  For so many reasons.

 

“No, it’s not.  And I’m talking about you.”

 

”You want me to meet someone?”  The words burn his throat.

 

“Well, I just…" she swallows. "I figured you would.”

 

“Because you left.”

 

“You don’t want to be with someone?” she asks, knowing that his answer will, in fact, be the only one that matters for the rest of her life.

 

“At the risk of stating the obvious, Scully, I have somehow managed to get _you_ into bed.”

 

“Mulder."

 

She feels his urgency as he turns her to face him, their faces inches apart, his arms encircling her, eyes unwavering.  “Scully, is it actually possible that you don't understand there will _never_ be anyone else.”

 

“I walked away from you, from us," her voice plaintive now.

 

“Because I screwed us up, Scully.  I’ve been screwing us up for 25 years.  How many times have I walked away?  I left you -- over and over.  I left you alone with our son.  _Running_ away from me is what you should have done years ago.  I never deserved you, Scully.  I still don’t.”

 

And she sees his soul laid bare in his eyes.  “But here I am.  I’m not walking, and I'm not running.  At the risk of stating the obvious, Mulder.”

 

He brushes her stray hair away from her forehead and behind her ear.  “Then what do we do?”

 

There is no hesitation.  “We’ll think of something.”

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this immediately after Plus One aired in 2018, because I was so upset that ridiculous dialogue ruined what could have been a truly heartfelt scene. As with many aspects of the revival, the break up should never have happened in the first place. But since we got stuck with it hanging over our heads, we deserved the courtesy of an explanation, and Mulder and Scully should have been given the space to begin their true emotional reconciliation. In keeping with the X-Files MSR tradition, this moment was the perfect opportunity for us to glimpse both of those things. There were a few things that bugged me about my original draft, so I made some small revisions in May 2019. For me. For them.


End file.
